Pokémon games on mobile aren't anything new, though Pokémon GO set a new bar in popularity as it went viral and generated significant revenue in 2016. The latest app is unlikely to reach those heights, but it'll be interesting to see how it performs.
Pokémon Duel is out now in territories such as North America and Europe, on both iOS and Android. It was originally called Pokémon Comaster and has been out for a good while in Japan; it plays a little like a board game as you build your team, move, fortify positions and battle others. There's online play, and of course it has various micro-transactions in its own store.
On its Google Play page it's already racked up more than 100,000 downloads (it's free-to-start), though an average of just under 5000 reviews (at the time of writing) has it sitting at 3.1 stars out 5, with some unimpressed with the game's setup.
Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments.
[source pokemon.com]
Comments 44
Eh, digital figures just don't do it for me like digital cards do. Gameplay isn't doing anything for me either.
Looks like the game in Yu-Gi-Oh but played with amiibo instead of cards.
I've played it for an hour and I liked it. I don't know how long it will last but I'm happy that I can finally try out the Pokémon Trading Figure Game since I didn't get to when it was an actual physical thing 10 years ago. The figures were too expensive.
I'll give it a shot later. With mobile games I tend to try out for a bit and never touch again though, so we'll see.
Looking at this simply increases my urge for a Pokémon amiibo line.
This is based on the Pokémon Trading Figure Game that was released & failed on it's butt almost a decade ago I think. I remember playing it & both the board and mechanics are identical. Rather odd it's getting an app in the West now...
Edit: Just checked, the game was released in Europe & US in 2006/2007 & was discontinued in 2009. 10 year anniversary maybe?
I don't know if the stationary statues bumping into each other to show "battling" is supposed to be charming but it just looks lazy to me.
I still have a few of these figures lying around somewhere, I have ho-oh, lugiia, turtwig, and a few other random ones
@DarkKirby In the toy based game this is based on you'd spin the figures to work out the stats.. this game is just recreating that. My guess is that the Pokémon Trading Figure Game didn't die out in Japan. Not sure why it's being released in the West though.
Wow, just started installing it... but contains ads & in-app purchases? Double dipping much?
Hard to argue with the low price of free. Might be good for a quick trip to the loo.
Played a bit. Not terrible but can't see me going back to it much.
It sorta looks like Hitman Go meets Pokémon.
Didn't expect Comaster to ever come to the west to be honest. The game has gacha mechanics iirc.
Oh, look, an actual Pokemon game instead of a walk and flick app on a phone.
I'll give it a try, downloading it now
This looks whatever.
@SanderEvers Something was announced about it today on Serebii. They showed how it's going to work in terms of transferring Pokémon from the Gen 1 games, how the Bank ties in all of your connected games into one big Pokédex and how you can import accumulated BP into Sun and Moon.
So basically everything except for the release date. But at least they acknowledged its existence, meaning it hasn't been forgotten about.
Cool! I still play Pokémon shuffle and since this is an arcade port it's technically not a mobile game. I'll give it a try.
@thesilverbrick Hadn't heard this about the Bank, sounds like they're adding a decent amount of added functionality. I look forward to moving a few hundred BP over once it's released!
Huh... where did that spring from?
@Alpha008 It's been out for a while in Japan already.
It's a freemium, pay to win game. Just uses Pokémon figures. Nothing to see here unfortunately.
Wake me up when we get an actual Pokémon game, preferably on the switch
Love when people expect a fully fledged game for free with no ads. Some sort of income has to be made and pay to win can still be great fun like Kingdom Hearts Unchained X. Also is that the Sonic Adventure 2 logo lol.
I think some of my students (the boys) will like that Pokemon games.
@nessisonett Kingdom Hearts UX is reptitive, every level feels the same with with a different picture as a background. I played it for 2 weeks and realised I was bored.
Kairosoft have the best mobile games, both paid and freemium. Nintendo should bring out a Kairosoft collection on 3DS or Switch.
A Pokémon article about an announcement different than the one we were waiting for. I guess all of you guys know what this entails.
Trainer's Log, day 94
"I'll be taking over writing duties after the previous author of these journals fell to this weird plague. As a native Alolan, I'm immune to this wave of viral nostalgia. Nonetheless, this group of trainers appears to come from other regions, which is why I suspect the "bank" they allude to is actually the Pokémon Bank. Personally, I've developed a soft spot for our variants of Kanto-born Pokémon, but the arrival of specimen from other regions doesn't worry me on an environmental level as they won't affect the local wildlife. Personally, I hope a Dialga becomes available, in order to distort time in order to save the lives of Greek trainers Steve and Hank, but that's a long shot. As for the schmuck who used to write these logs, we found a way to bring him to Aether Paradise, where we froze him in place alongside the Pokémon showcased there. Thankfully luring him there hasn't been hard at all, as all we had to do was telling him the bank he was looking for was there. My Ninetales did the rest.
I'll keep track of any noteworthy events within the following days as they unfold."
@Anti-Matter
Wait, you're a teacher? On a gaming site?
@AlexSora89
Yup. I'm working at Primary school as Librarian + Substitute teacher + Art Teacher.
And also a Nintendo gamer.
I played a bit back when it launched last year, but it was pretty tough figuring everything out with my limited Japanese knowledge.
Looks like a good time waster between classes! Love the detail on the figure models too!
Just started playing and impressed this is surprisingly good
@SanderEvers
Big changes to Pokemon Bank incoming!
http://pokemonaustralia.com
@AlexSora89
Why wouldn't a teacher be on a gaming site???
I really liked the trading figure game, so I'm glad to see it being brought in this way. I'd download it in a heartbeat (and maybe even drop some money on it) if I actually owned a smartphone.
D-D-D-D-Du-Du-Duel!
@AlexSora89 @k8sMum
Yeah, I don't get it. Why wouldn't a teacher be on a site like this?
I'm a teacher, too.
I saw GameXplain's video, not gonna bother with it until they fix that "Connecting" thing...
What's wrong with teachers gaming? I work for the school system and I love gaming...
It crashed after the first tutorial battle, welp.
@Anti-Matter
Wow! Joking aside, it's neat when teachers are also in touch with the younger generations and their passions. I always associated school with how much I could play games, as bad grades used to equal my consoles being locked somewhere and good grades likewise meaning I "deserved" to play, although studying hard means I didn't get to play as much as I wanted to. I guess that given me making this kind of connection, I'm just stereotypical and outdated that way. Fun fact: ever since Pokémon stripped away backwards compatibility with Ruby and Sapphire in 2003 (the same year I got held back for the first time, so bad memories all around), the Johto remakes were my most wanted games. And they eventually came... in 2010, when I had to study harder than ever as it was my last high school year. Ouch. (Which is also why I'm so upset about the lack of Bank compatibility so far, hence my "Logs" series.) Needless to say, the first thing I did after leaving school behind, was tearing through the remakes like there was no tomorrow.
On a funnier note, I remember my teacher in the "systems" branch of my information technology class once writing the acronym "PSP" on the whiteboard and, before telling us what it stood for within the context of the subject, jokingly saying "PlayStation Portable". My mind was blown. I mean, I don't know other countries, but in Italy usually teachers use "PlayStation" as a catch-all term for video games and for their easiest explanation for how a student came to school unprepared for a test, so how did a teacher know about something so relatively niche for non-gamers?
Long story short, sorry for my GIF, I was mostly joking on my old, "I-wanna-play-games-not-study-crap" self's behalf.
@aaronsullivan
My mind is blown further!
@k8sMum
Okay, okay, I'm sorry!
Please don't give me a bad grade, or I won't see my GBA for a week!Sorry for that, too. Sometimes school-years flashbacks kick in.
When can we just get a straight up traditional pokemon battling game on mobile? i dont much care for these alternative ways of battling. just stick what was in the gameboy,ds and 3ds games in my phone with some way to trade and obtain pokemon and ill be happy and content.
@DarkKirby Kids these days... back in the monochrome era, we would've given an entire pog collection to see all the Pokemon rendered in full-color 3D figures.
No respect, I tells ya!
I already see people comparing it to Niantic's game ignoring the fact that those are two completely different games lol. Also microtransactions are a killer for me. I always say I rather pay few bucks for full game with everything unlocked than to pay triple (and more) the price with microtransactions just to get somewhere.
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